Without Disclosing My True Identity
the record made on parchment by John and hidden up by himself [John the Beloved].”^112 It
was no such thing! The story was manufactured by the historians when the History of the
Church was written. They could find little information about the circumstance surrounding
the revelation, so they just decided to make up the “history.” According to them, the section
came through the Urim and Thummim. It did not! The revelation came from Joseph’s own
head to continue to motivate Oliver. Never did Joseph claim to have translated a parchment
written by John. He did not have to. He associated with John on many occasions in person; but
those personal associations were never revealed to others in order to protect John’s identity.
Preparing Oliver’s Mind
As Oliver and Joseph reviewed the extraordinary and marvelous account of Christ’s
interaction with the people, they made other discoveries that led Oliver to question the true
purpose of baptism and the “holy order of God.” They found that the visiting resurrected
Christ never mentioned anything about the Law of Moses again until “some among them who
marveled, and wondered what he would concerning the Law of Moses; for they understood
not the saying that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.”^113
Then, as an advanced (resurrected) human being, Christ had just delivered to the
people the fullness of his everlasting Gospel—the laws and code of humanity that govern
human action throughout the Universe—yet some of the people still wondered about the Law
of Moses! Oliver was emotionally affected by how Christ reacted to the people. Christ had
“knelt upon the ground [and] groaned within himself, and said: Father I am troubled because of the
wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.”^114
These words of Christ shook Oliver to the core—he realized that he was acting
exactly like the people had reacted to Christ—and he humbled himself accordingly. Oliver
fell into an emotional state of depression that he had never known before. He remained
despondent and reticent for two full days. During this time, Joseph took the time to relax
and to help Samuel with some of the necessary chores. However, Joseph soon realized that
Oliver had been humbled and smitten with remorse to such a degree that continuing the
translation would be impossible. Because of this, Joseph set aside an entire day for Oliver
and himself to reflect on what they had just translated and to deal with Oliver’s depression.
A few days before, Hyrum had arrived from the state of New York to see how the
translation was going and to see if Joseph needed anything. When Hyrum heard about the
“revelation of God” given to Oliver, he wanted one of his own. Not wanting to waste the
opportunity, Joseph gave another of his “revelations from God” to both Oliver and Hyrum
that contained important instructions on what would be required of them to help in the
work,^115 just as he had done for his father a few months earlier. He told both men that if they
had the “will” or desire to “thrust in [their] sickle and reap, the same is called of God.” Nothing
was ever said at this time about the “laying on of hands” to receive any special authority or
any priesthood. Consistent with what he had earlier told his father, if Oliver and Hyrum
had the desire, they were called to the work.
Joseph told both men many of the same things. But the thing that affected Oliver and
Hyrum the most was the mention of “a gift” that each was special enough to have
received.^116 The “gift” was the ability to know the mysteries of God through the
enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. They were promised that they would understand things
that no one else would be able to understand. Oliver was told, “Make not thy gift known unto